The Oceanic Sisters
The Oceanic Sisters were a class of 6 ocean liners built by the White Star Line (yes, the same Whiter Star Line that built Titanic), in the early 1870's. They were the most advanced liners in their day, and, thus, were treated as celebrities by other liners of the era. Their status was short lived, however, as more advanced liners rendered them obsolete rather quickly. Bio The Early Days of Ocean Liners Before the Industrial Revolution, ships relied entirely on the wind to get them from place to place. The wind, however, isn't the most reliable propulsion, and was highly unpredictable. This meant that ships only sailed when the wind was blowing. Perhaps one of the most dangerous places ships of the Age of Sail dared to go was the Atlantic Ocean, infamous among the ships of the era for its often rough weather, which could send an unlucky ship to the bottom. No ship wanted to cross the Atlantic, but, since trade between the U.S. and Britain was vital, ships went out, some never returned. Starting in 1763, humans began experimenting with boat-mounted steam engines. From then on, designs for boat engines were gradually improved. Then, in the 19th century, steamboats really became a thing. The sailing ships had dismissed steam power as useless for a while, but, by the 1820's, they began to realize that these steamboats would eventually replace them, causing strong opposition to the technology. They were comforted by the humans' own reluctance to ditch sail power, as steam engines were still under development. At first, steamboats could only traverse rivers; none dared venture far from shore. Then, in 1813, a French lugger, a type of small fishing boat, decided to try steam power on the Atlantic, and surprised everyone by making it. The feat was repeated several times over the next few years. From 1815 onward, steamships increased rapidly in size, but their design still resembled sail ships, as their shape had yet to be reconsidered. In 1818, the age of ocean liner truly began when the Black Ball Line was founded for regular passenger traffic between America and England. From then, improvements in steam engines allowed for more efficient crossings, with the Sirius, making the first crossing using only steam power in 1837, a feat repeated by Great Western in 1838. In 1840, the Cunard Line was founded and focused its attention primarily to mail traffic, being the first to do so. Then other shipping lines began appearing. Their ships looked down on Cunard's as they had an egomaniac attitude towards the competition. In 1848, Edward Collins, and American shipping magnate, tried to compete with Cunard by building 4 wooden paddle steamers, Atlantic, Pacific, Arctic, and Baltic, eventually building a 5th, Adriatic. These ships were even more egomaniacal than Cunard's ships, especially Arctic, who was the most celebrated in the Collins fleet, until she was rammed and sunk in 1854. Pacific disappeared in a storm 2 years later, then the Collins Line went bankrupt. By this time, ships began using iron hulls, allowing them to grow even larger. SS Great Eastern, was the largest in 1859, when she was launched. She didn't see many passengers, but she demonstrated how strong iron and steel were as building materials. Despite the improvements, there was still a redesign that was overdue by the late 1860's. Enter the Oceanic Sisters In 1868, Thomas Ismay, father of J. Bruce Ismay, purchased the White Star Line, and immediately began dreaming up ambitious plans. He saw how much profit could be made with immigrants and wanted to exploit it. So he signed a contract with shipbuilders Harland and Wolff, and ordered a revolutionary ocean liner to be built. Her name was Oceanic. She was launched in 1870, and she was met by skeptical ships. After all, nothing like her had ever been seen before, and she was often mocked because of how different she was. Oceanic brushed away the mockery and, on March 2, 1871, underwent her maiden voyage. She was such a hit among the humans, that, not only did her opposition shut up, but White Star were quick to order 5 more ships, which would be Atlantic, Baltic, Republic, Adriatic, and Celtic, all of whom were in service by the end of 1872. These ships were revolutionary, as they were the first ships to give extra priority to immigrants that other ships felt was unnecessary. Their hulls were far longer and more streamlined as well, permitting extra speed. In fact, Baltic and Adriatic won the Blue Ribband for the White Star Line months into their careers, causing great cheers for the Oceanic Sisters as they were known by now. Early Tragedy In late March of 1873, Atlantic, the second of the sisters, was preparing for her 19th voyage, when her youngest sister, Celtic, came up to her. Celtic had always been and emotional girl, overemotional at times, and had serious abandonment issues, since her other sisters couldn't spare any of their time to comfort her. Celtic told Atlantic that Cunard's egomaniacs were picking on her again, and Atlantic promised to give them a good talking to when she returned. It was to be their last conversation. Days into the voyage, Atlantic ran into a windstorm. She pressed on, though, assuming that it would let up in a few days. But the winds kept up, even kicking up a rouge wave that smashed one of her lifeboats. Atlantic grew increasingly concerned about her coal reserves, so, on March 31st, she decided to divert to Halifax, a place she had never been, to refuel. Of course, she knew she would be embarrassing the White Star Line by doing this, as none of its liners had ever had to divert to Halifax, but her passengers' safety was her biggest concern. The storm continued into the night. Early in the morning on April 1st, she began searching for Sambro Lighthouse, which she expected to be on her port side, unaware that the current had pushed her off course, putting the lighthouse on her starboard side. At a quarter past 3 a.m., she spotted breakers directly in her path. As she tried to turn, she scratched her keel on submerged rock pilings, putting her in great pain as she slammed into Golden Rule Rock at full speed. She then tried to pull herself off the rock only to ground her stern and destroy her propeller. Atlantic quickly realized she was going to sink as her engine room and stern were filling rapidly, so, she vented all the steam from her boilers to keep them from exploding, and began launching distress rockets to signal for help. The 9th one misfired and burst on her bridge, blinding her. Moments later, her stern slipped off the rock, causing her to capsize, drowning the passengers in her stern and midsection and exposing her deck to the relentless pounding of the waves. The world slowly faded to black as her interior was gutted, and she was broken apart by the waves. Atlantic's sinking led to great loss of life and stunned her sisters. Celtic was hit harder than anyone. Atlantic was the only ship who looked after her, and she felt closer to her than any other ship. Now, Celtic was on her own, in a world without Atlantic. But her troubles were only just starting. The Beginning of the End On February 3, 1874, a new White Star liner was laid down. She was built rather quickly, being completed on June 6. Her name was Britannic, and was the first White Star Liner to bear the name. Britannic was more advanced than the Oceanic Sisters, and enjoyed bragging about it. She also enjoyed picking on the remaining 5 Sisters, often citing Atlantic's sinking as proof that the Sisters weren't fit for service. Her number 1 target, however, was the shy and emotional Celtic. Her sisters tried to help her, only to be turned away by Britannic. Then, in March, 1875, Oceanic was transferred to the Occidental and Oriental Steamship Company for their route. She openly refused to give up her White Star livery, a paint scheme she wore with great pride, but agreed to fly the O&O flag. Celtic would never see her oldest sister again. Then, Britannic gained 2 more ships in her gang. One was her younger brother, Germanic. The other was a Cunard liner named Parthia, who held a grudge against Adriatic because of an accidental collision between the 2. Parthia wanted to make sure Adriatic got what's for. While Adriatic was pondering over what to do about this, she was rammed by an American ship named Columbus, who later sank, adding yet another blush to Adriatic's name. Then, in December, she accidentally ran down and sank a packet ship named Harvest Queen, who sank so quickly, that Adriatic didn't know who she hit... until she was told by one of Harvest Queen's friends. Then, in 1878, she hit a brig named Pike, who blamed Adriatic for excess speed, something Adriatic didn't seem concerned about. Republic had recently been placed in reserve, and had been enjoying her "vacation". This gave her time to think about her own future, something Celtic wasn't happy about, especially since Britannic was still attacking her. Her only comfort was a 30 year old man named Edward Smith, the same Edward Smith who'd command Titanic on her ill-fated maiden voyage, who joined the crew as the 4th officer. Celtic found Smith to be rather kind and sociable, and she quickly warmed to Smith, so much so, that she seemed to be in love with him, which only gave Britannic more reasons to bully her number 1 target. Celtic would never forget Smith, but was heartbroken when he left her crew to command the ever-lazy Republic. Celtic was now under increasingly heavy attack from Britannic and her gang. Finally, in May, 1887, she snapped. It was foggy in the evening on May 19. Britannic had left New York the day before and was looking forward to another round of bullying with her gang. At 5:25 p.m., she felt a sharp pain in her stern. On look aft revealed an angry Celtic burying her bow into her stern. Celtic muttered an insult, backed up and rammed Britannic again. She then repeated her ramming, each time pushing her victim's stern further away from her. By the 4th charge, Britannic's stern was no longer in the way, and Celtic slid right past. Britannic was shocked and horrified. But now she was also in serious danger of sinking. Celtic watched and waited, but it soon became apparent that Britannic wasn't going to sink after all. Celtic could've rammed Britannic again, but she was tired after her journey across the Atlantic, so she decided to rest her engines, and a good thing she did too. During the night, Britannic, still recovering from her ordeal, finally learned just how badly she's hurt Celtic's feelings. She began to tear from this, and told Celtic that she too had been a target of bullying, and had picked on Celtic to relieve her own pain. Celtic was stunned and saddened by this, and apologized for ramming her. The next morning, two more ships arrived and, despite their confusion, they all went to New York. Britannic was out of Service for a month. During that time, she and Celtic became good friends. When questioned about the collision, both ships claimed it was an accident. The Last Survivor Personalities Oceanic Atlantic Baltic Republic Adriatic Celtic Appearances Trivia Gallery